Hello, my name is Jana.
In 2008, I was painting a theater set with donated leftover acrylic house paints when I remembered deciding, at age sixteen, that if I was going to be an artist, I would work in watercolor. Then and there, I set a new goal of learning to paint with the medium. As soon as I told myself I would do this, my next thought was, “But you’re too old–decades too old. You’ve missed your chance, and you have no formal training.” This was followed by an absolute miracle of a thought: “Wait a minute—the next five years will pass whether you do this or not. Why not find out what’s possible?”
I found my kids’ watercolor set, some mediocre paper, and started painting. The results were just as mediocre as the paper! The colors were dull, but I was hooked! I learned more about paint, paper, and brushes, and with much doubt and slight panic, I began to paint from my own source photos. I had not yet developed the discipline of drawing and relied on graphite transfer or the grid method to draft my paintings. In 2012, the youngest of our children entered middle school; I rented my first studio and began teaching others what I’d learned (and wished I’d known at the beginning, especially color theory).
I wrote a book to fast-track your understanding of watercolor and its unique qualities.
A decade on, I’ve acquired skills and developed an art practice that serves me and my art when I show up at the paper. I keep my focus on the process and consistently get results that I feel good about. If you think it might be too late to learn to paint, I want you to know that I understand how you feel. You may want to skip the intro and get right to the lessons —no time to waste! I get it. I’m notorious for doing things backward. I wrote the glossary before the complete text to get clear about what I wanted to tell you.
About My Art
I work primarily in watercolor, ink, and pencil. Incorporating the line’s honesty connects us to our ideas’ outer edges, allowing us to define our subjects’ interior landscapes. Hence, the use of the line throughout the pages of this book.
A Worthy Pastime
Painting is a worthy pastime for leisurely and professional painters alike—a skill we can develop instead of falling into boredom. It can answer the question, “What will I do when my world gets small?” The five topics presented in this book (Wetness Scale, Consistency Scale, Technique Card, Mixing the Color Wheel, and Color Preferences) equip you to spend the rest of your life learning to make a painting. If your eyes light up and you feel happy at the thought of painting with watercolor, then this book is for you!